Week 9: Ups and Downs

Ups

1. A soccer teammate told me that elephants gestate for 22 months - the longest gestation period for any animal. Their babies also average 260 lbs. At least I can be thankful I'm not an elephant. And as for playing soccer again soon, my teammate pointed out, "You’ll be back in business by this time next year. Imagine a pregnant elephant sitting on the sidelines, season after season - poor pachyderms!"

Chris, who probably imagines that the misery of pregnancy-related woes, like morning sickness and mood swings, is compounded by the duration of the pregnancy and the size of the baby, is also thankful we're not elephants.

2. Chris and I have some friends experiencing difficult circumstances with no easy or right solution, which is difficult for us, because it's a natural instinct to want to jump in and help a friend fix the problem and make him or her happy again. While watching friends deal with such circumstances isn't the most uplifting, we have both expressed our thankfulness that we have each other and our relationship is solid. There will undoubtedly be great periods of stress in the coming months, (and years) but it's a lot less overwhelming since we know we have each other. We find it comforting that we will be making decisions and dealing with life's hurdles as a team.

Downs

1. With no news on my pregnancy, things have been kind of boring lately. I don't know if I was expecting nine months of excitement, but well, sometimes life is just business as usual. I've run out of things to write about in this blog, so I'm looking forward to next Tuesday's doctor's appointment, for many reasons, one of them being that I'll have something to report on.